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In May Minsk hosted a major tech-event for those who are interested in tech-industry of CEE region or, as organisers put it, the New East. The Conference attracted over 1,400 attendees from over 20 countries across Western and Eastern Europe, as well as Central Asia, Balkans, and Russia aiming to unite often underrepresented Eastern tech-scene with its more developed western counterparts.

In order to do so, the organisers made startup competition one the key content pillars of the conference. Alongside the main stage that has hosted speakers from Microsoft, Facebook, Dell, Bayer, Rybakov Fund, Flint Capital, the Unicorn stage has been dedicated to startups completely.

One would hear panel discussions on the development of technologies, pitches of EMERGE semi-finalists and expert keynotes with advice on running a startup: lean canvas to begin with and finishing with the promotion of the product and playtesting with no heartbreak.

EMERGE Challenge invited startups from all over CEE region to participate in one of 5 themed tracks including Blockchain, Creative Tech, Emerging and Enabling Tech, Philtech, Data&AI. From over 200 applications only 50 made it to the semi-finals and got to present at Unicorn Stage (see the list below).

Only 9 startups reached the final and pitched their products on the Main Stage. The finalist of Philtech Track – Rehabot (exoskeleton glove for recovering fine motor skills) received the special award from Rybakov Foundation – 4 days internship in Paris at the international accelerator INCO . Bulba Ventures, partner of Data&AI Track awarded ARRM.io team (gestures recognition technology) with their mentorship and expertise in AI.

Belarusian team DEIP (decentralized research platform for scientific community) makes it to the final and deserves fast track to acceleration programme in Tallinn from iskander.vc. The winner of Creative Tech track Try. Fit (hardware solution for virtual try-ons for shoes) wins mentorship at Warner Music. And the reinvented wireless power outlet presented by Meredot brings its founders to two-day bootcamp in London.

The main award of EMERGE Challenge – 5,000 euros cash prize from Flint Capital – goes to Russian project E-Contenta. The platform is offering AI-driven content analytics and content distribution that allows brands to deliver their content to the right audience and to convert them into paying customers.

“Nowadays, brands tend to become media on their own. If you visit a brand’s site you’ll learn a lot about, let’s say, baby food. But who would visit a brand’s website in order to learn about baby food in the first place? E-Contenta integrates into brand’s site analyses its content and users’ reactions to it and then promotes the most interesting pieces to the audience outside the website,” said Zoya Andreyeva, the founder of E-Contenta. The team works since 2016 and currently has 30 customers. The team seeks to land 400,000 euros to expand its operations in Europe.

The range of special awards from the Conference’s partners finds their owners among other semi-finalists of EMERGE. You can find the full list below.